Toy



Dec. 22, 1936.

F. BlscHoF, 1R 2,065,208

TOY

Filed Feb. 26, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet l ATTORNEYS Dec. 22, i936. F.BiscHoF. JR

TOY

Filed Feb. 26, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 w j. m n MA l M ab ,l r 4 PatentedDec. 22, 1936 UNITE STATES PATENT FFICE TOY poration of IllinoisApplication February 26, 1935, Serial No. 8,269

4 Claims.

This invention relates to a structurally and functionally improved toy.

It is an'object of the invention to provide an article of this naturewhich may represent in miniature an automobile or other wheeled vehicleand the several parts of which may be manufactured largely by automaticmachinery and assembled with facility.

, In this manner an apparatus is furnished which may be placed upon themarket at nominal cost and which will embody relatively few parts,'providing, when assembled, a rugged unitary article capable of beingsubjected to reasonable abuse without danger of breakage.

-A further object of the invention is that of furnishing a toyconstructed as afore outlined, but -which Amay nevertheless faithfullysimulate in appearance a large'article or apparatus of which it is aminiature embodiment.

2'() With these and other objects in mind, reference is had to theattached sheets of drawings illustrating practical embodiments of theinvention, and in which- Fig. 1 is a plan View with certain of the partsbroken away to disclose underlying construction;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a toy as illustrated in Fig. l, withcertain of the parts again broken away;

'30 Fig. 3 is a partly sectional side view of the unit as shown in Fig.2;`

Fig. 4 isa top plan view of the running gear portion of such unit;

Figs. 5 and 6l are transverse sectional views l3'5 takenY along thelines 5-5 and 6-6 and in the direction of the arrows as indicated inFig. 3;

Fig. is a perspective View of the Vfront end of a toy as shown in thepreceding views and with theV parts thereof separated;

Fig. 8 is a plan view showinga toy embodying Va slightlyV different formofstructure than is included in the preceding views; n

Fig. 9 is a side elevation of a toy as shown in Fig. 8, but with certainof the parts broken away to disclose the structure to the rear of thesame;

Fig. 10 is a transversely sectional view taken along the lines Ill-I 0and in the direction of the arrows as indicated in Fig. 9;

Fig. 11 is a view similar to' Fig. 9, but showing a further alternativeform of construction which may be employed;

Fig. l2 is a fragmentary plan view of theunit as shown in Fig, ll; and

' Fig. 13 is a transverse sectional view taken along the lines I3-I3 andin the direction of the arrows as indicated in Fig. 11.

Heretoiore numerous types of wheeled toys have been produced. However,with a view to manufacturing, at minimum expense, units of D thisnature, it has been desirable, if not necessary, to resort to diecasting and similar manufacturing methods. This in itself has beenentirely satisfactory, but difficulty has been eX- perienced incident tothe expense involved in 1U assembling the several parts to provide acompleted unit. Also, it has been extremely diicult to reproduce andassemble them in such a manner that they would, in an acceptablefashion, simulate in appearance the correspond- 15 ing parts of a largeunit of apparatus.

According to the teachings of the present invention, it is proposed inthe case of a wheeled toy to provide a running gear portion and a bodyportion and to assemble and interlock these 20 portions in such mannerthat the difficulties heretofore encountered are avoided.

Thus, in the drawings the numeral I5 indi- Cates a body portion, and I5a running gear portion. The former may mount a radiator-lamp and bumperassembly as has been generally indicated at I1, and the latter portionmay by means of axles Illextending in contact with portions I9 bent toaccommodate the axlesmount wheels 20. 30

As has been especially indicated in Fig. 4, the running gear portion ISmay include a plate 2| with which the portions I9 are integral, and thisplate may have parts 22 simulating in appearance running boards andadjacent which integral portions 23 simulating in appearance mud-guardsextend.

Now referring in detail to the forward assembly of the body portion, itwill be seen as in Fig. 7 that the unit I'l includes, as aforeindicated, parts 40 simulating in appearance a bumper, a radiator shellor core, and lamps. These parts may be formed of a material differentthan the body portion and including for example a nickel or chromiumfinish. The body portion adjacent such 45 parts is formed with notches2l! for the accommodation of the bar 25 or other element mounting thelamps and is also formed with a backing plate 26 lying slightly to therear of the forward edges of the body portion. Additionally, an 50opening 21 may be formed in the upper surface of the body portion, andthis opening is of an area adequate to accommodate a stem Z8 extendingfrom the upper surface of the bar 25. Consequently, this stern may beintroduced through 55 the opening and the associated parts may be swungto a point at which the rear faces of the radiator shell or core lie incontact with the forward faces of the plate 26. With a View to properlycentering these parts, these surfaces may include angularly extendingportions, the surfaces being formed so that they match one with theother. The running gear portion i6 may have adjacent its forward end aprojection 29 from which a flange 30 extends upwardly. Consequently,with the part Il in position upon the body portion, it is obvious thatthe application of the running gear portion thereof will cause theflange 30 to extend in advance of and toH engage the part Il adjacentits lower edge. Thus detachment of the part Il is precluded so long asthe running gear portion remains in position.

Adjacent their rear ends and as shown in Figs. 1 to 6, the portions areformed with a suitable interlocking structure. To this end the bodyportion may have adjacent its rear edge a pair of forwardly projectingparts 3| which extend within the space dened by the rear of the bodyportion l5. With this in mind, and as has been especially shown in Figs.1 and 2, the body portion is interrupted to accommodate these parts.

Adjacent this point a bumper structure may also be secured. Thisstructure conveniently includes a bar 32 from which inwardly extendingportions 33 project, the latter terminating in offset inner ends 34. Therunning gear portion is formed-as shown in Fig. 4-with channels 35Within which the portions 33 lie, the offset ends vof the latterextending into openings 3% formed at points beyond the channels. It isaccordingly obvious that prior to engaging the projections 3l within thenotches 31 formed in the running gear portion, the bumper is positionedas shown in Figs. 1 and 4. Thereafter, by applying the toy portions oneagainst the other the bumper is locked against displacement.

Now with a view to securing the forward end of thev toyportions againstdisplacement, it will be observed that the inner faces of the mud guardportions 23 adjacent the forward ends of the running gear portion arerecessed or formed with openings as has been indicated at 38. Adjacent acorresponding part in the body portion there extends from the edges ofthe latter a pair of projections 39. These projections have upon theirouter faces Wedges or latch elements 40. Accordingly, when the portionsare inter-engaged adjacent their rear ends and their forward ends areswung to their normal or assembled position, the projections 39 will liewithin the recesses or openings 38, and the latch elements lll will bearagainst the edges of these openings until the parts are fully seated, atwhich point the upper edges of the latch elements will ride beyond theedges of the openings 38 and the parts Will be locked againstdisplacement. Of course, as previously brought out, theradiator-lampbumper assembly will have been applied to the body portionprior to this operation, and accordingly this unit will also be locked.However, should it ever be necessary to disassemble the parts, this maybe readily done by either pressing inwardly against the faces of thebody portion and adjacent the projections 39 and/or forcing the mudguard portions 23 adjacent the forward end of the running gear portionoutwardly, so that the latch elements 4U may clear the edges of theopenings 38.

' Numerous other methods of readily locking the latching elements orwedge members 42 which co-operate with the edge portions of openings orrecesses formed in the body portion. Accordingly, and as shownespecially in Fig. l0, the parts may be forced together and against anylikelihood of accidental separation.

A further form of construction which permits of ready assemblage andlocking of the parts is illustrated in Figs. 11 to 13. In these views itvwill be observed that the body and running gear portions are formedwith a quick detachable but normally interlocking structure extendingfrom the rear edges. pair of hook shaped catches 43 integral with andextending from (for example) the running gear portion, while the rearedge of the body portion is extended as at 44 to be engaged by theportions 43. If this structure is provided adjacent the rear end of theunit, then a suitable form `of locking structure must be providedadjacent the forward end of the unit. With this in mind, a latchstructure or its equivalent may be'utilized as afore brought out, orelse, and as shown especially in Fig. 13, the body portion may haveoutwardly extending edges 45 which ride in contact with and into thearea defined below latch elements 46 which are integral with Ythe mudguard portions. In other words, after the rear end of the parts havebeen inter-engaged, the forward ends are swung downwardly, thisresulting in a spreading or forcible movement of the mud guards inopposite directions until the ledges or ends of the surfaces 45 havecleared the projections or latch elements 46. At that time the partswill snap to the position as shown in Fig. 13, and accidental separationthereof will be precluded.

As a result of the foregoing or similar constructions, it is perfectlyobvious that the various portions, and especially the two main portionsof the vehicle,rmay be separately formed by means of ordinary dieoperations. Thereafter, they may be separately colored or nished in anydesired manner, and while the wheels and axles are conveniently appliedto the running gear portion prior to its assembly, they may, of course,be associated therewith after the body portion has been associated withthe running gear portion. Likewise, while by the present invention it isfeasible to provide contrasting and separately formedbumper-lamp-radiator units which are securely locked in place by theassemblage of the two portions, these parts may be dispensed with orelse be otherwise provided. The fact remains that instead of having todepend upon cumbersome and in some respects inefficient methods andstructure for retaining the portions in assembled condition, the presentinvention provides a structure and teaches a method of procedure suchthat unskilled labor may with facility assemble the portions of theunit.

Obviously numerous changes in construction and rearrangement of theparts might be resorted to without departing from the spirit of Thisstructure may involve a the invention as defined in the followingclaims.

Having described the invention, I claim:

1. A toy including running gear and body portions, one of such portionsbeing formed with channels extending to a point adjacent its outersurface, the other of such portions being adapted to lie adjacent suchchannels, a separate bumper element, and arms extending rearwardly fromsuch bumper element and retained against removal from such channels bythe other toy portion.

2. A toy including running gear and body portions, projections extendingfrom one of such portions, the second of such portions being formed withspaces for the accommodation of such projections whereby such portionsmay be inter-connected adjacent such projections, and latch structuresforming a part of such portions and at points spaced from suchprojections whereby at the latter points to additionally andautomatically couple such portions as they are brought to a positionadjacent each other.

3. A toy including running gear and body portions, projections extendingdownwardly from such body portions, latch elements upon the outer facesof such projections and adjacent the outer ends thereof, such runninggear portion presenting opposed inner edge portions spaced a distanceless than the distance between such latch elements, and such bodyportion being formed of a material capable of being exed whereby, assuch portions are brought to assume proper positions with respect toeach other, such latch elements will cam against the edges of therunning gear portion and will thereupon snap outwardly below such edgesto lock such running gear and body portions against separation.

4. A toy including running gear and body portions, a separate radiatorelement normally immovable with respect to such portions, a partextending upwardly from such element and rearwardly of the same, saidbody portion being formed with an opening in its upper edge for theaccommodation of such extended part, such radiator element lying betweenthe inner surfaces and adjacent the forward edges of such running gearand body portions, and means for preventing a separation of such runninggear and body portions whereby to xedly maintain said element againstaccidental displacement with respect thereto.

FRANK BISCHOF, JR.

